Independent thinkers question the intentions of others and have a stubborn reliance on facts when it comes to making important decisions for themselves and their loved ones.  The leftist elite cannot have anyone questioning their decisions, much less refusing to go along with them.  To paraphrase the fascists-- Nothing outside the collective, everything inside the collective, and nothing against the collective. All wants and needs must align with those of the collective. We see this taken to its logical extreme in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, when society completely collapses without the services of those who refuse to sacrifice their own self-interest to an ungrateful society that takes them for granted.